


The Tunnel of Love

by cherrybina



Category: Inception (2010)
Genre: First Date, First Kiss, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-09-25
Updated: 2010-09-25
Packaged: 2017-11-23 08:14:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/619981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cherrybina/pseuds/cherrybina
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Arthur and Eames go on what is definitely not a date, and end up trapped in a love tunnel ride with little pink disco lights flashing all over the place.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Tunnel of Love

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Aja](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aja/gifts).



> For Aja, who requested this very ridiculous scenario :D

“Hey, Arthur,” Cobb says at the end of the day. “Do you want to come over for dinner tonight? It’s taco night, and the kids would love to see you.”

“I can’t,” Arthur says as he packs up his laptop. “I’m going to a carnival with Eames.”

“That sounds really nice,” Cobb says with a wistful sigh. “I haven’t been on a date in months.”

Arthur almost chokes on his tongue. “It’s not a _date_ ,” he says finally. “It’s _research_.”

“Oh, right,” Cobb says. “Of course.”

Arthur hurries out of the warehouse, refusing to meet Cobb’s eye when Eames says, “I’ll see you at seven. Dress casual.”

It’s not a date. Dates involve... Arthur isn’t exactly sure since he hasn’t been on an actual date in years thanks to the unique demands of his professional life, but he’s definitely sure that dates do not involve accompanying Eames to a series of ridiculous locations for what Eames calls research. He insists that he needs to get out and be among as many different kinds of people as he can, to keep his skills as a forger sharp. Arthur doesn’t really understand, but then forgery has always been something of a hazy spot for him, a lot of hand waving and feelings and innuendo, and not based on real science.

Once home, Arthur strips out of his suit jacket and waistcoat, and changes his sweater three times before settling on a deep blue to match the stripes on his tie. He checks himself in the mirror, and then remembering that Eames said casual, he unbuttons his shirt cuffs and rolls his sleeves up to his elbows.

At precisely 7:00, he answers the doorbell and finds Eames standing there, wearing a blazer and a pair of jeans.

“Have you no concept of casual clothing, Arthur?” Eames says, looking him over critically.

Arthur looks down at his outfit. “This is casual,” he says. “Besides, you’re the one wearing a jacket.”

“What does it take to get you to loosen that tie, I wonder?” Eames asks with a smirk.

Arthur glares at him and reaches up to tighten the knot at his throat.

“Right then,” Eames says, holding the door open for Arthur. “Shall we?”

It’s a warm spring evening, and the carnival is crowded with families and friends and couples talking and laughing together. The lights from the rides shine brightly in the dusk, and it smells like fried things and sugar, and reminds Arthur instantly of his childhood. He finds himself wondering if Eames has the same kinds of associations tied up in his memories, and when he glances over, he finds Eames looking back at him.

Arthur starts to get suspicious when Eames buys him an ice cream cone an hour later right in front of the Ferris wheel.

“Eames, is this... a date?” Arthur asks, remembering Cobb’s words.

When Eames laughs, the flashing lights from the Ferris wheel light up his face in shades of red, yellow and blue.

“This would make a lovely place for a date, wouldn’t it?” he asks, grinning at Arthur as he licks his melting ice cream.

Arthur is about to tell him that that wasn’t an answer at all, when the smile dies on Eames’ lips and drops the last of his ice cream cone on the ground.

“Oh, _shit_ ,” Eames says, staring out into the crowd of people as he reaches discreetly for his gun.

Arthur immediately tenses and scans the surrounding area, looking for anything out of the ordinary. His heart is pounding with a mixture of adrenaline at imminent danger and disgust that he didn’t bother to bring his own gun.

“Eames, what is it?” he finally asks quietly, but Eames just shushes him and shoves Arthur behind him in some kind of protective gesture.

Arthur’s first instinct is to twist Eames’ arm behind his back and break every one of his fingers, but then he realizes that he’s the idiot standing here without a gun, so he keeps quiet and waits. Finally, Eames steps in very close, so close that Arthur can smell his cologne.

“Over there,” Eames says, his voice low in Arthur’s ear. “The two men standing by the carousel are hit men hired to kill me because of a job I did couple years ago.”

Arthur easily spots the men Eames is referring to. They’re talking to each other, seemingly without a hidden agenda, and don’t look like any hit men Arthur has ever seen, but he’s been in this business long enough to know that not everyone is as they seems.

“So, I should expect that they’ll start shooting any minute now?”

“I have no idea if they’d do it right here in the open,” Eames says, still right up in Arthur’s space. Then he hooks an arm around Arthur’s waist and leads him along the path leading away from the carousel.

“What are you doing?” Arthur hisses, but goes along with Eames so as not to call attention to them. Eames just wraps his arm snugly around Arthur’s waist and guides him toward the line of people standing in front of the Tunnel of Love.

“Would you mind terribly if we cut in front of you?” Eames asks the elderly couple at the front of the line, flashing his most charming smile and pulling Arthur close to his side. “This is our very time here at the Tunnel of Love.”

“Of course,” the woman says with a kind smile. “Go right ahead, boys.”

As they step through the entrance way, Arthur hears her say to her husband, “Aren’t they just the sweetest thing you’ve ever seen?” and he resolves to kill Eames if no one else does it tonight.

Eames hands the tickets to the man at the booth and a few moments later, they step into a tiny heart shaped boat. Arthur is still tense from the adrenaline, but everything is quiet here, except for the awful cheesy music playing over the speakers.

They’re plunged into total darkness, but a moment later, the boat turns a corner and Arthur sees with horror that the ceiling is lined with shiny disco balls that are throwing off tiny pink and red heart shaped lights all over the walls. He’s just about to tell Eames that he really is going to throw him over the side into the murky water beneath them, when the boat suddenly comes to a halt.

Arthur glances over and finds Eames looking just as confused as he feels.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” a woman’s voice comes over a loudspeaker. “We appear to be having some technical difficulties with the attraction, so sit tight and snuggle closer to your sweetheart, and we’ll have this all sorted in just a few minutes.”

“Seriously?” Arthur says to no one.

“There is no way this bench was designed for two people,” Arthur says a few minutes later when the boat still hasn’t moved, trying to slide away so his thigh isn’t pressed up against Eames’ and finding nowhere to go.

“We’re in the Tunnel of Love, darling,” Eames says, grinning at him. “It’s for lovers.”

“Oh my god,” Arthur says. “Did you plan this?”

“You think I somehow arranged for armed hit men - ”

“I didn’t see any guns,” Arthur interrupts.

“ - to come after me,” Eames continues, ignoring Arthur, “chasing us into the Tunnel of Love, which I _also_ somehow managed to arrange to have break down right in the middle of the ride, so that I might what? Make an attempt at your virtue? I’m shocked that you would think such a thing, Arthur, really, I am.”

“I didn’t - that’s not what I meant,” Arthur says, suddenly feeling hot all over.

“Then what did you mean?”

“You never answered me,” Arthur says quietly. “Was this supposed to be a date? Before, you know. The armed hit men, or whatever.”

Eames’ mouth curls up in a slow smile, and he tilts his head up so that little pink and red hearts go dancing across his face. “Now _this_ would be a fantastic place for a date, wouldn’t it?”

Arthur is about to tell Eames that once again he’s failed to actually answer the question, but then Eames presses his thigh into Arthur’s and scoots even closer.

“What do you think everyone else is doing right now on their tiny little benches in their tiny little boats?” Eames asks, and Arthur is suddenly aware of how close they are.

Arthur swallows hard, his tie suddenly feeling too tight.

“I bet they’re not complaining about how close they are,” Eames continues. “I can think of so many more interesting ways they might be passing the time.”

“I’m not going to kiss you just because we’re stuck in the Tunnel of Love with little pink hearts flashing all over the place,” Arthur says insistently.

“When we get off this ride, there might be two men with guns waiting to kill us,” Eames murmurs. “So if you’ve ever thought you might want to kiss me at any point in the future, this could very well be your last chance,”

“You brought me to a carnival to do your research, whatever that means, and somehow we end up trapped in the Tunnel of Love while armed hit men wait for us outside. That doesn’t sound a little bit dodgy to you?”

“I think you’re stalling because you really do want to kiss me,” Eames says and licks his lips.

“If I’ve been brought here under false pretenses, then I don’t think I should kiss you at all.”

“Is that right?” Eames asks, close enough that Arthur can feel his warm breath. “Then why don’t you kiss me because you want to.”

Arthur narrows his eyes and pulls back the slightest bit. “You won’t even admit this is a date.”

“How about this?” Eames asks as he slides one hand around the back of Arthur’s neck and tugs him back in. “You kiss me now, and if we don’t die on our way out of here, I’ll take you out on a proper date and buy you dinner at a fancy restaurant. And you can even wear a suit.”

“Fine,” Arthur says. “But I’m paying for half so you don’t have any expectations of me putting out.”

“Whatever turns you on, love,” Eames says, and Arthur closes the rest of the distance between them.

Eames’ mouth is warm and yielding, and his lips part easily to let Arthur in. Arthur closes his eyes against the flashing lights and the music fades away as he lets himself get lost in the wet heat of Eames’ mouth, and the way it feels when Eames wraps his arms all the way around him and pulls him close.

Before Arthur has had nearly enough, the little boat jolts to life, and the ride comes to an end.

There’s no one waiting for them when they climb out of the boat, and they walk back to Arthur’s place without anyone pulling a gun on them, their elbows knocking together the whole time.

“Just so you know, this was a horrible date.” Arthur tells him when they reach his door.

Eames cocks his head and flashes a smile, showing his crooked teeth. “It wasn’t all bad, was it?”

Arthur leans in and presses his mouth to Eames’, and there isn’t any terrible music playing in the background, or heart shaped lights flashing around them, but the kiss is just as fantastic as the first one.

“Maybe not all of it,” Arthur says when he pulls away, and Eames laughs and pulls him back in.

Two days later, Arthur is getting ready to leave for the night when he hears Yusuf and Ariadne ask Eames to join them for drinks.

“Sorry, I can’t. I have a date,” Eames says. “With Arthur.”

Arthur feels himself flush, and when he looks up, Cobb is squinting at him suspiciously. Arthur just shrugs, but when he sees Eames smiling at him from across the room, he can’t help but smile back.


End file.
